Eternal Blue Redux: Ranma's Journey
by Shadow of the Dark
Summary: Ranma finds a strange stone in a park, that takes him to the world of Lunar. How will this affect Lunar?
1. Prologue

I was sitting around when the idea to write this came to me. I've noticed that there are only a few Lunar/Ranma crossovers, and those that I've seen haven't been updated in years. I intend to write one and actually finish it. Like Demonic Fusion, this story will be updated irregularly. Anyway, on with the fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma or Lunar, they belong to their respective creators, and although I wish I was, I am not making any money off of this either.

"speaking"

_'thinking'_

Eternal Blue Redux: Ranma's Journey

By Shadow of the Dark

* * *

Ranma Saotome sat on the roof of the Tendo dojo in a thinking position. One week has passed since the failed wedding, and the situation had continued to worsen. His fiancées had upped their efforts to marry him, his rivals had increased their attempts to kill him, the fathers were pushing even harder then usual to force him to marry Akane, he continued to fight against the old pervert, and problems just keep seeming to find him.

_'Man, what am I supposed to do about all of this? It's not my fault Pops went and made a bunch of deals in my name. Why do I have to fix all of his screw-ups? I can't win! No matter what I do, someone ends up dishonored! If I choose Akane, Ucchan will be dishonored, and Shampoo will be dishonored and punished for failing, possibly death or being locked in her cursed form! If I choose Ucchan, Akane and the Tendos will be dishonored, and Shampoo will end up the same way, and if I choose Shampoo, then the other two will be dishonored. That's not to mention the one I pick will be attacked by the other girls, and the rivals that like that girl will try even harder to take me out. To add to that, I keep having new fiancées showing up, as well as people challenging me, who make things even worse! What do I do...'_

Ranma was engulfed in despair and hopelessness. Frustration at the hopelessness of his situation continued to build up in him. He had done so much, even going so far as to kill a god, and yet nothing he did seemed to help. His skills continued to increase, he had even surpassed the power of the Happosai and Cologne, although he continued to hide this fact. Sighing, Ranma stood up, and leapt down to the ground, before walking out the front gate onto the street. As he walked down the street, Ranma's mind continued to be filled with thoughts of his situation. As he walked through a small park, Ranma sensed something. He did not know what it was, but it felt powerful. Suddenly, the air around him seemed to grow heavy, as a presence pressed down on him. A flash lit the air, causing Ranma to cover his eyes. When the light died down, Ranma uncovered his eyes. Where the flash had come from was a small stone lying on the ground. The stone looked as though it was made of crystal, but the truly unusual thing about it was that it was glowing internally. Ranma cautiously walked toward it, and, picking up a nearby stick, poked at the stone. Nothing happened. Ranma slowly reached down to grab the stone. However, as soon as his hand closed around the stone, the stone began to glow again.

"Woah!"

Ranma tried to let go of the stone, but his hand would not release it, his hand was frozen. The glow continued to grow, and soon, all that Ranma could see was white.

_'What have I gotten myself into this time?'_

This was Ranma's last thought before everything went blank.

Unbeknown to Ranma, the events in the park drew the attention of another being. Deep in his dark prison, the Dark God of Destruction, Zophar took notice of the surge of a power so hated and familiar to him.

**_'What does Althena think she will accomplish bringing an outsider to Lunar? No matter, it won't help her.'

* * *

_**

In a place a universe away from Nerima and Earth...

Evening fell across the land as two figures were running their way across the plain. One of the figures was a young man who appeared to be in his teen years. He had short brown hair, a cheerful face, and had two green tattooed stripes under his right eye. He wore a tan cape and his clothing was that of a traveler. The other figure was not even human. It appeared to be a pink female cat with wings. There was a yellow bow on her head. It should now be noted that only the boy was running, with the pink cat riding on his shoulder.

"Hurry Hiro, or we'll be late and Grandpa Gwyn will get mad at us again!" the flying cat said.

"I know that Ruby, I'm going as fast as I can!" the boy now identified as Hiro said.

Ruby turned her attention away from Hiro to the area ahead of them.

"Hey Hiro! There's something over there!" Ruby said pointing with one paw to the ground ahead of them.

"Huh?" Hiro said as he peered where Ruby was pointing, "hey, you're right! What is it?"

The pair slowed as they reached the shape on the ground. Upon closer inspection, the shape was revealed to be a person lying unconscious on the ground. The person was a male teenager, who wore a red shirt, made in a foreign style, and black pants. The boy had black hair in a pigtail, and his features were quite handsome.

"Ummm... what do we do now Hiro?" Ruby asked, as she looked at the lying figure.

"Well, we can't just leave him here," Hiro said , before kneeling down next to the boy, and began to lightly shake him, "hey, wake up!" However, the person remained silent and unmoving. "Well, he's not reacting to me, and there's no water or anything else nearby to use...guess I've got to carry him back home with us." Hiro sighed as he reached and placed his hands under the body, and lifting him onto his back, in a sort of makeshift piggyback. "Geez, he's heavy!" Hiro moaned out as he began walking again.

"Hurry up!" Ruby said from her new position on the comatose boy's head, seeing that she had been dislodged from her previous position by the boy's arm hanging over Hiro's shoulder.

"I'm trying, but I have a slight problem!" Hiro shot back.

"Stop your whining! We have to get home!"

"Alright, alright!"

* * *

After a long trek, the two and their cargo reached Gwyn's Place. As they reached the ladder up to the platform the house was built on, they were greeted with the sight of an old man looking down at them.

"Hiro, m'boy, what took you so long? You're late!" the old man said.

"I'm sorry Grandpa Gwyn, but we found this guy unconscious on the ground on our way home, and we couldn't just leave him, so we carried him with us." Hiro called back.

"Yeah, it's all this guy's fault," Ruby said in a cross voice.

"Now Ruby, that was uncalled for, we couldn't just leave him there," Hiro admonished her.

"I guess...," Ruby admitted reluctantly.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Bring him up!" Gwyn yelled down.

After some struggling, and with help from Gwyn and a rope, they were able to haul the boy up the ladder and into the house, before laying him down on the bed. After laying him down, Gwyn pulled Hiro and Ruby to the other side of the room. Gwyn studied them for a moment before saying.

"Alright, what's going on with this boy?"

"I already told you Grandpa, we found the guy unconscious on the ground, and couldn't leave him there, so we brought him with us. I don't know anything else!" Hiro exclaimed, holding his hands up defensively. Gwyn looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then sighed, and said,

"Alright, I believe you, let's just wait a while and see if he wakes up."

And so they did. They did so until, after about an hour, sounds of movement could be heard from the bed that the invalid was lying on. Almost instantly, Gwyn, Hiro, and Ruby were gathered around the bed, eagerly anticipating the waking of the boy. Groans issued from his mouth, as his eyelids twitched, before his eyes slowly opened. He slowly raised himself into a sitting position, rubbing at his eyes, before lowering his hands and looking around. His face grew somewhat nervous as he was faced with two guys and a cat staring him down. He raised his hand slightly and said,

"Uhhh... Hi?"

"Nice to see you're awake. Tell me boy, who are you?" Gwyn asked.

The boy's brow narrowed in thought before an expression of realization crossed his face, as he opened his mouth and said,

"My name is Ranma. Uh, do I... know you?"

"We've never met before. Anyway, we found you lying unconscious in a field on our way home. Do you mind telling us what you were doing out there?" Hiro asked.

There was no response from Ranma, as he seemed to be lost in thought. Hiro was about to repeat his question when Ranma looked up at him. His eyes were wide and his expression looked almost... frightened. His response was not what anyone was expecting.

"I don't know. I..I can't remember!"

"What do you mean, you can't remember!" Ruby half-shouted, sounding slightly worried.

"Exactly what I said. I can't remember anything about my past, even my own last name!" Ranma replied, sounding irritated.

"Are you sure? If you can't even remember your own last name, it will be difficult to find any information about your past." Gwyn said, rubbing his chin with his hand in contemplation.

"Does that mean I just have to wait around and hope that it comes back?" Ranma asked, sounding somewhat resigned to his situation.

"Well, we can't just send you out there alone, especially if you can't remember anything. Hmm...," Gwyn said, in a tone suggesting he was speaking half to himself, and half to the others. "Well, alright, you can stay here, and see if you can remember anything, but!" Gwyn punctuated this with a raised finger, "you have to pull your own weight, and help out with the chores. You understand?"

"Ah, thank you. By the way, do you mind tellin' me who you are?" Ranma asked, with a slightly abashed expression on his face.

Hiro looked surprised as he exclaimed, "Oh! Sorry, I forgot. This is my Grandpa Gwyn," Hiro pointed to Gwyn, "he's a researcher of ancient ruins. I'm Hiro, and I'm an explorer! This is Ruby," Hiro pointed to Ruby, who was sitting on Hiro's shoulder. This caused Ranma, for the first time, to take a good look at what Ruby actually was. Ranma stared for a moment in blank incomprehension. However, this pause was broken when Ranma's eyes bulged, and he scooted away to the other side of the bed.

"C-C-C-Cat!"

"Hey! I am not a cat!" Ruby objected, sounding very annoyed.

This caused Ranma to pause in his panicking, _'Wait...it...talked? But c-c-felines can't talk. Even if the voice is really high-pitched and annoying, it still can't be possible. Plus, it was pink and had wings. So, it can't be a cat, right?"_

This being resolved, Ranma slowly relaxed, as he carefully looked at the creature known as Ruby. After fighting down the urge to panic, Ranma began to notice the distinct differences from a cat. Aside from the obvious differences of that Ruby was pink, had wings, and talked, she was not behaving like a cat would, indeed, she was acting remarkably like an angry human woman. Now calm again, Ranma opened his mouth and said,

"Alright then, what are you?"

"Hmph! How rude! But if you must know, I am a Red Dragon!" Ruby said with a superior expression.

"A Dragon? Aren't you just a little small to be a Dragon?" Ranma asked skeptically.

"I am a Dragon! Don't make me set you on fire!" Ruby threatened.

"Set me on fire? With what?" Ranma challenged.

"With THIS!" And on that note, Ruby opened her mouth, and let loose with a stream of fire, leaving a stunned and somewhat charred Ranma behind. "That'll teach you!" Ruby said smugly.

"How- How did she do that!" Ranma choked out.

Hiro and Gwyn were barely able to hide their amusement, as Hiro said,"well, I'm not sure if Ruby's a dragon, but it's not wise to argue with her about it."

"All right then, I'll remember that." Ranma said before shaking his head to clear it.

"Ranma, do you mind telling us why you acted like that when you saw Ruby?" Gwyn asked.

"Actually, I don't know why. When I saw her, I thought c-c-c-cat, and became really scared. I can't remember why I would be afraid of cats." Ranma said thoughtfully.

"Maybe something traumatizing happened, and it causes an extreme fear of cats?" Gwyn suggested.

"I guess, but there's no point worrying about it right now, right?" Hiro interjected.

"Well, I suppose you're right. We should go ahead and set up a bed for you, Ranma," Gwyn said,"since I don't think you want to be sleeping with someone else."

* * *

A/N: Well, there it is, a new story. What do you think of it? I find myself having problems on trying to decide the pairing however. My personal choices are Lucia, since I like her, and Jean, since she is a martial artist as well. Feel free to make suggestions, though I can't guarantee that I can add them to the story. Don't forget to R&R! Until next time! 


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm very glad to see that my story has been so well received. I'm sorry that it took me so long to update, but your patience has paid off. Allow me to clarify a few points:

First off, to anyone who is wondering, the Lunar game being used in this crossover is Lunar 2 Eternal Blue, the Playstation 1 sequel to Lunar Silver Star Story, also for the Playstation 1.

Second, this story does start before the beginning of Eternal Blue, Hiro and Ruby are still at Gwyn's House.

Some have wondered how much of the original Ranma has been carried over, well, just read on and find out. (insert evil laughter)

Remember:

"Ranma" - Spoken words

_Ranma' _- Thoughts

Disclaimer: I do not own Lunar or Ranma, they belong to their respective creators. I'm not making any money off of this either, so all you lawyers, (Pulls out whip and cracks it) back, back I say!

* * *

Eternal Blue Redux: Ranma's Journey

By: Shadow of the Dark

Wind. Ice. Snow. These covered everything in sight. The temperature was below freezing, and the weather was that of a blizzard. This is the scene that would greet a visitor to this place. This is known as the Blue Star, the planet that floats high in the sky for the inhabitants of the world of Lunar. No one on Lunar knew precisely what the origin of the Blue Star was, or what relationship it played with humanity in the past. All knowledge of these facts have been lost to the sands of time. If one were to travel here, to this wasteland, they would find a huge building, made all out of crystals, that jutted out like spikes into the air. Inside of this building, there were long corridors made of crystals, that shimmered in the light. These corridors all led to a large room in the very center of the structure, one that was empty of all but a pedestal. On this pedestal was a huge crystal, but what made this one special was the fact that it held a person within it. This person was a woman, with long blue hair, that, even though it defied normal physics, floated above her head. She seemed to be sleeping, her eyes were closed, though all details about her body were indistinct, blurred by the crystal. All was quiet, the room was still, and the women remained asleep. Suddenly though, the woman's eyelids flickered! She seemed to be awakening

Her eyes slowly opened, and for a moment, time almost seemed to stop, before a bright light filled the room, one that originated form the crystal, and nothing could be seen through the light, The light blinded all sight for several moments before dying down. When it did, the crystal was empty, the woman was gone! Looking down a corridor connecting to the room, it is revealed that the girl has somehow moved all the way across the room, and is now walking through the hall, unhurriedly and calmly. Now that she is out of the crystal , it is easy to make out her features. Her face was beautiful, and her blue hair flowed down her back to her waist. Her figure was very well formed. However, the odd thing was that she wore no clothing other then a pendant around her neck. The pendent was one of a dark inverted moon on the golden pendant. She showed no signs of being concerned with her nudity, as she strode down the passageway. Then the path ended, and the girl was standing outside of the building, exposed to the storm outside. Despite the freezing temperature, the girl did not shiver, or show any form of discomfort. Her gray eyes ran over the plain, taking in its wasted and stormy state. Then she said,

"This is not the time for my awakening," her voice soft, but troubled. She wrapped her arms about herself, as her hair whipped about in the wind, and turned her eyes up, into the sky, where Lunar could be seen, before saying,

"Something must have gone terribly wrong."

Nothing answered her, and Lunar merely gleamed like a brightly colored gem in the sky.

* * *

The sounds of fighting could be heard as two figures fought in a clearing. One figure was a young man dressed in adventurer's clothing and a tan cloak, with brown hair attacking his opponent with a practice sword. The other figure was also a young man, with blue eyes, black hair in a pigtail, and wearing a loose blue shirt and black pants, and was fighting unarmed. The sword fighter, who can be identified as Hiro, seems to be having a significant amount of trouble keeping up with the unarmed fighter's speed. Hiro brought his sword down in an arcing slash, which his opponent sidestepped, before counterattacking with a fist into Hiro's hand, forcing him to release his sword, which hit the ground with a dull "thump". The two separated, and stepped away from each other.

"Geez, Ranma, did you have to hit that hard?" Hiro panted out between his gasps for air as he rubbed his now aching hand.

"Would you rather have me knock you out to win?" Ranma asked, his breathing barely strained.

"Ahh, no, disarming works fine," Hiro quickly replied.

"Anyway, let's get back to the house," Ranma said.

"Alright," Hiro picked up his practice sword before the duo walked out of the clearing. They walked in silence for a short time before Hiro spoke.

"Six months you've been here Ranma, and I still can't match you in a fight!" Hiro said, sounding slightly exasperated.

"Don't see why you'd be worried about it. You've improved a lot Hiro. When we started sparring, you could barely last any time fighting me at all. That"s not counting that boomerang of yours, trippin' me and all. Not to mention that weird Poe Sword attack of yours."

"Yeah, but then you do the Amaguriken, and take me down."

"That's why I don't use it during our spars."

"For which I am very thankful."

Conversation lapsed into silence as the two friends walked.

Some might be wondering what has happened in the period since Ranma was taken in by Hiro, Ruby, and Gwyn. Six months have passed since that day. Upon further self-examination, Ranma discovered that he had not forgotten everything about his past. He found that he had an extensive knowledge of martial arts, although he has no recollection of where he learned them from. Gwyn believes that he had learned them from a well-known martial artist named Lunn, though Ranma certainly could not confirm this. Aside from martial arts, Ranma could not remember anything about his past, only his own first name.

Hiro and Ranma walk into Gwyn's place, where they meet Ruby, who has been sitting on a barrel waiting for them to return. Upon seeing them, she fluttered her wings and lifts off the barrel, and floating over to hover in front of them.

"Where have you been! You're late!" Ruby cried furiously.

"What d'ya mean late? We were sparring like normal!" Ranma retorted.

"I know that!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Hmph! If you would just let me come with you when you two spar, we wouldn't be having these problems!" Ruby exclaimed, quickly diverting the topic.

"Now Ruby, if you came along, you and Ranma would argue, and it would mess up our sparring," Hiro interjected reasonably, trying to defuse the argument that was brewing.

"Come on Hiro, let me come, please?" the diminutive pink-furred dragon pleaded, batting her eyes at Hiro in an attempt to be cute. All it seemed to accomplish is make Hiro very nervous.

"No! If we let you come, you'll flame me every time I get a hit in on Hiro!" the pigtailed fighter said, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Would you rather have your butt set on fire now then?" Ruby inquired, her tone rather dangerous.

"Bring it on!"

"Hey Ruby, I think Grandpa Gwyn is cooking fish for lunch, maybe you should go and check?" Hiro said, in a last ditch effort to distract Ruby.

"Fish!" Ruby exclaimed, before winging back towards the house,completely forgetting her argument with Ranma. Said martial artist was left blinking after the escaping flier, before looking over at Hiro. Hiro had his eyes closed and his hands in a praying position as he mumbled something. Listening closer, Ranma could barely make out that Hiro was saying,

"Please let Grandpa be cooking fish, please let Grandpa be cooking fish,"

Ranma did not comment on this, merely shaking his head as he began to walk towards the house.

After the meal, (which, luckily for Hiro, was fish), Ranma went downstairs, into the room where Gwyn kept all of his books and other research materials in storage. Once there, he strode over to one of the bookcases, reached out, and removed a book from the shelf, before going to sit in a chair in the corner of the room, cracking the book open, and beginning to read. This is one of the things that has changed about Ranma since his arrival. The erasing of his memories also had the effect of healing much of the damage that Genma had inflicted on his son's mind. The forgetting of Genma's teachings, such as the ones regarding a martial artist's lack of needing scholarship, has caused Ranma's brain to awaken its latent potential in learning things other then martial arts. Ranma has discovered within himself a strong thirst for learning, and has spent quite a bit of time in that library reading and learning all about the world around him. To his immense frustration, though, Ranma had discovered that, no matter how much he tried, or how much he studied, he was completely unable to use magic. Hiro and Gwyn had tried to teach him, but he could not even perform a basic Squall spell! The forces of magic that the others drew on just did not seem to flow in him. Therefore, he focused on learning everything that he was able to learn. However, his search for knowledge was interrupted as the quiet was broken by the entrance of Hiro and Ruby into the room. They paused for a moment before heading towards Ranma, who lifted his head from his book to look at them, and froze.

'_Hold on, I know that look.'_ And indeed he did. The expression that Hiro had on his face was one that he had seen before. It appeared when Hiro had what he thought was a good idea. Said ideas almost always landed them in serious trouble with Gwyn.

'_Why am I getting' a bad feeling from this?'

* * *

_

_'Why'd I agree to do this again?' _Ranma asked himself.

He was currently hanging by a rope watching as Hiro attempted to pry the jewel in the right eye socket of a dragon statue out. However, progress was rather slow, as Hiro attempted to chip away the rock surrounding the jewel. The aforementioned statue was on a platform hanging over a gaping void, as the room appeared to have no floor, and was apparently bottomless.

"I knew I should have brought Grandpa's chisel," Hiro grunted as he struck the rock with his knife,"this is way harder then I thought!" He struck the rock several more times before his face brightened. Just a little more, and the jewel would be freed! At this time however, Ruby chose to interject with the words:

"Hurry up Hiro! The time has almost run out on the trap!"

Both boys froze, and their faces quickly turned towards Ruby, who carried the lantern in his mouth.

"Trap? What trap!" they said in almost perfect unison, both sounding extremely worried. Unfortunately, their answer was not in a verbal form from Ruby, but rather large jets of flame erupting from the platform around the structure, flames that ended only just below the two adventuring boys. This encouraged them to retreat farther up their ropes quite quickly, to avoid being fired.

"Why didn't you tell us about that earlier!" Hiro demanded of Ruby, staring accusingly at her.

"I did, but you wouldn't listen!" Ruby shot back in reply.

This time is was Ranma who was the voice of reason.

"Hy guys, let's not argue about it, and just get the jewel, alright?"

"Oh right, the jewel!Hang on, I've almost got it!" and with that, Hiro carefully lowered himself down to be level with the jewel, while being very careful not to go near the flames, and with several more strikes, had the jewel freed and in his hand. With a triumphant grin, he raised himself up to the level of his companions. Too bad this feeling of elation could not last. Before they had a chance to celebrate their accomplishment, a rumbling sound echoed through the room. The trio frantically looked around for the sound's source before Ruby looked up, and screamed before saying,

"Ahhh! The exit's closing!"

Hiro and Ranma eye's were immediately turned upward, and saw that, indeed, th e hole that they had lowered themselves with ropes through was closing! This provoked an impromptu race as the hapless young men desperately tried to climb their ropes back to the entrance before it shut. Alas, this was not to be, as Hiro's rope could not handle the strain, causing it to snap, thus sending Hiro on a freefall down into the darkness.

"Ahh! The rope broke!" Ruby cried out in horror, as she watched her dear Hiro begin his fall. She began to fly straight down as quickly as she could, trying with all her might to catch up with the falling Hiro.

"Damn!" Ranma cursed sharply as he too began to watch his companion fall. His hand flashed as he pulled out a knife, and cut his own rope. This resulted in Ranma's own rapid fall. He hurtled downward, trying to catch up with Hiro, and help him land. They fell through the darkness, and Ranma was only a few feet away from catching Hiro, but the fall ended rather abruptly.

Ranma landed on his feet, bending his knees slightly to absorb the impact.

Ruby fluttered down and remained floating, her wings beating as she panted in exhaustion

Hiro slammed into the ground with a thump, and remained unmoving.

"Hiro!" Ranma called, as Ruby and he rushed towards their fallen friend.

"Oh Hiro, please "sniff" don't die "sniff" you can't die." Ruby whimpered as she floated over the unmoving body. Her sadness suddenly turned into relief, as Hiro began to stir in response to her crying.

"I'm, okay Ruby, I'm fine," Hiro groaned out as he unsteadily rose to his feet.

"We have to stop doing this Hiro, I can't take it anymore. You could have been seriously hurt!"

"Come on Ruby, Hiro's fine, nothing to worry about, right?" This from Ranma, who was stretching some kinks out of his body. He froze in his actions as his danger sense began to ring, warning him that something was coming. Ruby had opened her mouth again, but,

"Shh! Ruby, do you hear that?" Hiro, his expression more serious, brooking no argument.

"Huh?" Ruby paused, and began to listen as well. She was quiet for a few moments before she spoke again.

"I don't hear any-" Whatever she was going to say fell off, as two Inferno Ghouls entered through a doorway into the room. These monsters looked like large fireballs with faces as they hovered in midair. They were known to be quite dangerous, since they were capable of burning someone alive with ease. The two groups stared at one another in shock for a moment, neither expecting to see the other their, before Ranma chose to handle the situation in a calm and collected manner.

"Run for it!" was Ranma's cry as he turned and began to run, an action that was duplicated by Ruby and Hiro, with the Ghouls in hot pursuit. The following few minutes were pure chaos, as the fleeing friends ran in an desperate attempt to outdistance the following fiends, running with no form of direction or order, turning corners with no clue as to where they led, jumping over holes in the floor as the decaying ground of the ruin gave way. Abruptly, they had entered a new passageway, with the Inferno Ghouls no where in sight.

"Hey, where'd they go?" Hiro asked as the three slowed to a stop.

"I don't see them anymore," Ranma slowly said.

"Look!" Ruby cried, "there's the exit!"

And sure enough, in the direction that Ruby had pointed to was a doorway with the light of the sun shining through it. Our heroes were distracted from this wonderful sight as a rumbling began to sound, starting small, but gaining strength. They turned, slowly, dreading the sight that would meet their eyes. The rumbling continued to grow in size and power.

"Uh, guys, what is that?" Hiro asked, not completely sure that he really wanted to know the answer. They peered into the darkness, attempting to make out what was causing this event. They could see a glint of... metal? What could be made of metal? Suddenly, they had their answer. Hiro's eyes widened as his mouth dropped open.

"Oh-"

What he was going to say was probably not going to be "oh dear", had Ranma not interrupted him and started shouting,

"Go, go, go!" a command that was instantly obeyed, as the thing they had been looking at was a huge metal ball, one that was rolling directly at them in an oddly Indiana Jones style, intent on crushing them beneath its massive bulk. The three began to dash, trying to reach the exit before meeting a grisly end.

Run. Flee. Escape. Get out before being turned into a pancake. Time slowed to a crawl for them, the only sound their heavy breathing, and their heart's pounding, as blood pulsed in their ears. The exit, so close. Not fast enough, going to die here, gonna die, gonna die, gonna die! And then, light. They lay in the dirt outside the entranceway, panting, barely able to believe their luck, they had made it! Looking back at the entrance, the ball had become lodged in the doorway, creating an impassable plug, preventing new entry.

"Well, that was fun," Ranma mumbled under his breath, as they rose up.

"And so the great adventurer Hiro triumphs again!" Hiro exclaimed, in a very self-satisfied manner. Both Ruby and Ranma stared at him for a moment before Ranma looked over to Ruby and nodded, agreeing as Ruby drew in a breath before letting out a torching flame, thus creating crispy-fried Hiro. Said fried person seemed to calm down and said,

"Thanks, I needed that."

"Alright then, what now?" Ranma queried of his companions, "we've got the jewel, so now what do we do?"

"Well, we'd probably better start heading home, before Grandpa Gwyn starts to miss us," Ruby said.

"Then let's get going, we've got the whole Eastern Plains to cross!"Ranma called to his friends, as he had already began to walk. The two quickly followed their pigtailed friend, as they all began to walk. They walked in silence for a while, until they had crossed the plains, and had entered the East Desert Pass. Once there, they had encountered several monsters, such as Dung Beetles, Sand Sharks, and Sand Cyclops. Dung Beetles looked like their name implied, like large beetles with dangerous bites. Sand Sharks looked like miniature sharks that swam through the sand like water, and sand Cyclops had the appearance of a pile of gathered mud with an eye and a mouth. However, our heroes had encountered these monsters before, and they were easily dispatched with a few slices of Hiro's knife, and a strike from Ranma.

After several battles, they were walking along a path that went alongside a cliff that loomed over a shallow valley. Their walking was interrupted, as the ground began to shake under their feet.

"Hey! What's going on!" Ruby cried from her position on Hiro's shoulder.

Her question was answered as a huge ship came bursting through the rocks in the canyon next to their cliff. The companions could only stare in awe up at the ship. It was huge! Even though they stood on a cliff, the ship's side rose high above them, almost two stories above the cliff edge! It was blue and white, with a dragon at its helm. It was pulled along the land by a series of pullers that looked like spherical metal feet that moved forward, dragging the ship along on top of them.

"What is that?" Hiro soft whisper barely heard above the noise the ship made. Almost as though in answer to his question, the ship slowed to a halt, the earth's trembling dying down with the stoppage. With where the ship stopped, they now stood about midway along the ship, with the front and the back of the ship even distances away from them. Their perusal of the craft was interrupted by a call:

"You there! What are you doing in this area?"

The trio looked towards the front of the ship, where the voice had originated from. The speaker stood looking down at them from the deck of the ship. He had light blue hair, and wore a red cape over white armor-like clothing. He also had a horn protruding from his forehead, a feature that marked him as a beastman, a human like type of people that had long co-existed alongside the humans of Lunar.

Hiro, acting the part of spokesman, was the one to respond.

"I am Hiro, and these are my friends, Ranma and Ruby! Identify yourself!" His voice was a near shout, to make sure that it reached the man who stood high above them. Ranma chose to say nothing, instead studying the man and, even from his current distance, could tell that the man was an excellent fighter, from both this bearing, and the other telltale signs that fighters give off. He could not tell precisely how powerful the man was without actually fighting him, but he was certain that the man would be an extremely formidable opponent.

"Certainly1 I am White Knight Leo, leader of Althena's Guard! This is the Dragonship Destiny! Now then, I want you kids to leave this area immediately. There's something important that's going to happen here, and I don't want any civilians getting hurt in this! Now move it!" Turning his attention away from the trio, Leo turned towards the helmsman and said to him, in a voice that was too low for them to hear, as it was not directed at them, "Helmsman, set a new course! Destination: Gwyn's research outpost!"

And with that, the rumbling started again, and steam erupted from the vents on top of the ship, as the huge ship began to move forward, moving far faster then one would think a ship that size could move, and soon had gone out of sight.

"Geez, that guy sure was rude!" Ruby grumbled angrily. Hiro and Ranma were barely able to contain their smiles. Imagine that, Ruby calling someone else rude! Hiro simply shook his head.

"Don't worry about it Ruby, let's just get going. Grandpa's waiting for us." And on that note, the three began walking again. Ranma walked with his head slightly bowed, as if lost in thought. Seeing Leo and listening to his had brought flashes of memories to his mind, with the arrogance of one who sees himself as being above others reminding him of... a bokken? Huh? A man with a wooden sword? Who? Despite all efforts, Ranma was unable to bring to mind anything else about the past, only brief flashes of the man. Perhaps later.

With the exception of a few monster encounters, the rest of the trip was uneventful. However, as they came in view of the house...

"Hey, isn't that the Dragonship Destiny!"

"What is it doing next to the house!"

Only a short distance from Gwyn's home, the Dragonship Destiny was parked, towering over the much smaller house.

Ruby looked at her friends. "Are they after Grandpa Gwyn?"

"Come on, let's hurry." Hiro said, his voice and tone urgent.

They broke into a run, as they wondered what was going on. Upon entering the house, they were met by a pair of young men dressed in the armor of the soldiers of Athena's Guard.

"Hey! You can't just go in there! Lord Leo is meeting with the archaeologist." The soldiers stood as if trying to create a barrier keeping the three friends out. Ranma blinked, barely able to believe these wimps were trying to stop them. They were at most a few years older then him, and he could tell they would not even post a challenge for Hiro, much less himself. If this was all the Guard had to offer, then Ranma knew that he could take on most of the Dragonship Destiny's crew by himself, not even counting what would happen if Hiro helped him. Not even bothering to respond, he pushed past them, Hiro and Ruby following after. With the guards out of the way, the two in the center of the room were visible. One was Leo, and the other was Gwyn. They seemed to be having an argument. By moving closer, they could make out the words.

"You have been conducting investigations into these ruins for years, you must know! Now tell me, how to I enter the Blue Spire?" Leo, his voice commanding and imperious, stood over the slightly stooped old man.

"The Spire? Now why do you want to go in there for?" Gwyn, acting the role of the oblivious old man. Leo seemed almost to the point of gritting his teeth in frustration, before visibly calming himself, and then said, "It has been foretold that a Destroyer will arrive on Lunar at that place. My orders are to eliminate it before it begins to cause trouble. Now, answer my question!"

"Well, I'd like to help you, but there's no known way to open the door. I do, however, have a theory, that if you take-"

"I have no time for your theories old man! Fine then, if you do not have the information I seek, then I shall simply blast the door open with the Dragon Cannon!"

With a gesture to his soldiers, Leo turned and began to walk towards the door. He paused when he was next to Ranma and Hiro, looking at them before saying, "You two look like a pair of strong lads, tell me, have you ever considered joining Althena's Guard?"

Slightly surprised, Ranma and Hiro shook their heads in the negative. Hiro was able to stutter out, "Uhh, no not really." Ranma, on the other hand, remained silent, assessing Leo's abilities, now that he was closer. Before, he had realized that Leo was a strong fighter, but now that he was closer, Ranma could sense the tightly controlled power that the beastman radiated, as well as the surety with which he handled the sword at his hip. Comparing himself to this man, he couldn't say who would win in a fight between them, he might even be more powerful than himself! Leo, oblivious to Ranma's scrutiny, said in reply,

"You should consider it. We're always looking for able young men to fight alongside us. I'm sure that you would do well. In any case, goodbye." And then Leo was out the door. Ranma watched the man go, the odd feeling of apprehension that his presence brought going with him. Looking over at the others, he was in time to hear Gwyn speak.

"What a pompous fool that Leo is!"

This drew affirmative nods from the others present. Gwyn turned and began to walk towards a ladder in the back of the room.

"I think I'll have a look at the Spire" were Gwyn's words as he began to climb up the ladder. However, almost immediately after he disappeared, he began shouting:

"Ranma, Hiro, Ruby, get up here, quickly!" Within seconds, Hiro climbed the ladder, Ranma jumped it, and Ruby flew up it. Arriving at the platform that was on top of the house, one that was used as an observatory with a telescope, they had an excellent view of the Blue Spire. This was normal. What was not normal was the light that was erupting from the top of the Spire into the sky. A shining point of light seemed to be following the light path down towards the Spire, winking out when it touched the tip. For many years, the Spire had stood, defying all attempts at entry, taunting all who would find out its mysteries.

"Could this be the Destroyer that Leo was talking about?" Gwyn said softly.

"We need to investigate, Grandpa, who knows what could be there. This is the chance of a lifetime!" Hiro said, trying to urge his grandfather into action.

"Yeah, you've been wanting to get into the Spire for years, haven't you Gramps?" Ranma put in alongside Hiro.'s statement.

"Hmm... you have a point. We can't let this opportunity go to waste! Come on boys, grab your gear and meet me by the door!" Gwyn strode to the ladder and began the descent downward.

"But what are you going to do?" Ruby called to him.

"Me? Well, there's a couple of things that I've got to get ready before we can go." Gwyn responded as he disappeared down the ladder completely. He was quickly followed by his young charges. Once at the bottom they separated, each going for the supplies they thought they needed. Gwyn was standing at a table, as he rummaged through the piles of artifacts and other odds and ends, apparently looking for something. Ranma went downstairs, picking up a few healing herbs, to heal any potential injuries, but also removed an ancient dagger that Gwyn kept in a chest in the corner of the room. Although it was incredibly old, it was an extremely sharp blade, far better then the normal dagger that Hiro used. Ranma was a very reluctant weapon's user, but recognized that a blade could be very useful in dangerous situations, though he would never use it except when absolutely necessary. Putting it in a sheath and hanging it from his side, Ranma headed back upstairs, where he met the others.

Gwyn was very animated, and seemed to be quite excited by the prospective adventure. Hiro appeared to in a similar state. Ruby did not seem to be as excited as she sat on her favorite perch, which was Hiro's shoulder, but seemed to be looking forward to it as well. Looking at them, Ranma felt his own excitement, and desire for adventure rise, At the same time, he internally renewed the vow he had made when he first met these people, to watch over them, and protect them, these people who had given him a home.

"Everyone ready? Then let's go!" Gwyn said, as the group began to leave the house.

They started their walk northward, and made excellent time, even with Gwyn's advanced age slowing them down. Soon, they stood in the valley that was surrounded by cliffs, excluding the entering pass. There was a paved path through this area, with two statues and columns on each side. At the end of the valley was a statue of a huge dragon's head, which was the only clue as to the entrance to the Spire. Gwyn immediately walked over to the dragon and began examining it, muttering to himself as he did so. While waiting for his grandfather, Hiro wandered over to one of the statues and looked at it. The statue had the torso of a huge man, with the lower half of a snake. It's top was armor-plated, with a helm on its head, and it carried a huge ball and chain, All in all, it was a rather intimidating statue.

_Wouldn't want to get this thing mad at me.'_ Hiro thought. His introspection was cut off as Gwyn gave a sound of exclamation.

"Aha! I have it! If I insert this Dragon Eye jewel into the left eye socket of the dragon, the entrance should open!" That said, Gwyn reached into his coat and removed a pinkish white jewel, which he placed into the left eye socket of the statue. He stepped back, and seemed to be waiting for something, but nothing happened. The statue sat there, not doing anything. Gwyn stared at it in confusion, not able to understand why it didn't work. A thoughtful expression appeared on Ranma's face as he looked at the dragon as well, before he leaned over to Hiro and said,

"Hey Hiro, don't the way the eyes are remind you of that other statue in the ruins?"

Hiro's eyes widened slightly. "Oh yeah, you're right!" He dug into his pouch and pulled out the blue jewel that they had previously removed during their adventure in the Dragon Ruins. He walked over and placed the jewel in the right eye socket, before stepping back to rejoin his friends. With a loud rumble, and shaking, the statue began to split apart right down the middle, revealing a staircase leading to a door into the cliff face.

Gwyn suddenly had a broad smile on his face as he said, "Of course the opening trigger would require two Dragon Eyes!" His face became much more suspicious as he faced the younger ones. "But where did you get another Dragon Eye jewel? Were you exploring the Dragon Ruins without telling me?"

Faced with the truth, Hiro and Ranma could only shrug in embarrassment. Gwyn simply sighed as he spoke, "Ah well, too late now to change anything, let's just get going!" With that, they entered into the unknown.

* * *

A/N: Well, what happens next? That is for me to know and you to find out! Again, sorry for taking so long to update, I'm a bit of a slow writer. Alright then, I'll clarify a few things before I get comments on them.

Ranma's strength: When considering Ranma's power levels please take into account that I'm trying to turn a video game with its measurements on levels and other rules, and trying to put them into slightly more realistic situations. Ranma is considerably stronger then Hiro, but then, has also had far more training then Hiro has. As for his comparison to Leo, if they fought simply with skill, Ranma's fists against Leo's sword, they come out about even, though Ranma is faster, and Leo is stronger, However, if they start using special attacks, Leo would win, since Ranma does not remember how to use his ki, or has better moves, though he knows the Amaguriken, he can't use it to its full power either. So Ranma has lost some of his strength, though he is still good. Don't worry about this being a Ranma is way to strong fic, all else failing, I can always up the powers of the bad guys if necessary.

Why can't Ranma use magic? This makes sense to me, since in Lunar, all magical power the people use comes from the goddess Althena. Ranma, as a non-native person of Lunar, would be unable to use it. Don't worry, he'll get compensation in another form, (you'll see soon enough)

A question that still plagues me, who should be matched up with Ranma? Lucia or Jean? Have a multi-pairing and have them both with Ranma? And if Lucia, who should I pair Hiro up with? A Hiro/Ruby match up, by giving Ruby access to a human form? (there are several ways for me to do it.)

My profile has a fic status where I keep approximate chapter completion, and estimated arrival times when I get close to finishing. As for Demonic Fusion, I am still working on it, but it's taking longer then expected. And as always, don't forget to review!

Until next time!


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